


Only The Beginning

by west_allenOTP1



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-16 08:19:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16082183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/west_allenOTP1/pseuds/west_allenOTP1
Summary: First day of junior year Central City High and Barry is excited to start off the new school year with his best friends Caitlin and Cisco until the new girl shows up and turns his whole world around.





	1. First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day of junior year Central City High and Barry is excited to start off the new school year with his best friends Caitlin and Cisco until the new girl shows up and turns his whole world around.

Barry groaned as his alarm clock went off. Groaning even louder when the clock read 7:20. " _First day of Junior year, yay!"_ He guess he could say that he had a very memorable summer. Barry and his best friends, Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon, applied for internships for the summer at STAR LABS and got accepted. 

_Flashback_

_They sat in a circle in Cisco's basement, different emotions were in the air. Excitement, nervousness, and fear. Cisco, Caitlin, and Barry are obsessed with everything dealing with STAR LABS. STAR LABS stands for Scientific Technological Advanced Research and it is ran by Harrison Wells. Harrison Wells is by far the smartest person ever, to be able to build a particle accelerator which would bring a whole new meaning to life. When Barry found out that Harrison Wells, and yes, the Harrison Wells, would be offering internships to young scientists who wanted to learn more about physics, how to particle accelerator was built. I couldn't contain my excitement, knowing Barry would have a chance to work beside, well somewhat beside Dr. Wells, Barry had to take his chances._

_After hearing the news, Barry immediately called Caitlin and Cisco and told them about the internships._

_Hearing Caitlin and Cisco scream and gush about the news, Barry couldn't do nothing but smile. To be able to have an opportunity to work with his best friends and learn everything about Harrison Wells' quantum theory and discovering a new way to look at physics. Now here they are sitting in a circle waiting to open the letters from STAR LABS, with their hearts in their throats._

_Caitlin looks at me and Cisco and says, "Who wants to go first?" and then turns to Cisco, who then scrunches his eyebrows together, "Why do I have to go first? Why not Barry?"_

_Barry chuckled lightly and said, "Look we will open them up together, on the count of three, okay?"_ _They nodded their heads in agreement and they counted down together and ripped open their mail._

_Barry eyes grew wider and wider as he continued to read the paper,_

_"Dear Bartholomew Henry Allen,_

_We would like to inform you that we hear by accept the application that you submitted for STAR LABS Summer Internship Program..."_

_He was about to read more but then heard a high pitched scream echo throughout the basement and Barry and Caitlin both turned to Cisco who cleared his throat and apologized softly, "Sorry, I just.. I got in, you guys, they accepted me" he said with the biggest smile on his face, "What about you guys?" Caitlin and Barry at the same time said that they got in too._

_All three of us laughed and got into a big group and hug and then Cisco something that will stick throughout junior year and the rest of the journey that they will spend together, "Guys this is only the beginning and nothing can hold us back now, as long as we stick together."_

Barry smiled at the little memory as he rolled out of bed and sighed to himself,  _"Cisco is right, this is only the beginning"  
_

Junior year is the year when colleges start to offer you scholarships and have the opportunity to go on college tours. He was somewhat excited about college, believe it or not, Barry loved school, science specifically. He was looking to go to Central City University because they have to best science program and field in the state of Missouri, wanting to one day become a CSI and work at CCPD. Barry his entire life wanted nothing more than to be able to help people, to help fight crime but also protect the victims effected by it. 

Barry went to the bathroom and took a quick shower and brushed his teeth and made his way down the stairs to eat a little breakfast before making his way to school. He was stopped short by a woman waiting at the bottom of stairs for him, Nora Allen, his mom.

She pulled Barry into a hug and squeezed him tight, "Oh my beautiful boy, first day of junior year, are you nervous?"

"Kind of but not really."

"Is this what you're wearing?"

Barry looked down at his outfit and frowned, "Whats wrong with my..."

She interrupts him and says, "Do you have pencils, pens, and paper? Do you have money for lunch? Do you.."

She was cut off by his father, Henry Allen, "Let the boy breathe Nora, I'm sure he has everything that he needs, don't you slugger?" and his father winked at him and made his way to the dining room table with his cup of coffee and newspaper.

Barry smiled at his dad gratefully and said, "Yes I do, thank you dad" and made his way into the kitchen to fix him a bowl of cereal and eat quickly so he wouldn't be too late for school. He sat down at the dining table with his dad and came in at the end of his mother and fathers conversation.

Nora said, "I was trying to make sure that he had everything, Henry, you know how nervous I get with the first day of school. I was nervous wreck when he first started kindergarten. I know I made his teachers life a living hell, I called every five minutes to make sure he was okay."

Henry chuckled at the memory, "I am 99.9 percent sure that they changed their office number after seeing your number pop up at every second of every day."

Nora slapped my fathers shoulder in a playful manner and Barry could do nothing but smile at them. He wished that one day that he would find a love like theirs. To be able to have that one person look at you with pure love in their eyes, to get butterflies every time that smiled at you, or when your heart skips a beat when they laugh at your corny jokes. Barry wanted that love, wanted to be hopelessly in love, to cherish someone like his dad cherishes his mom. Barry is only 17 years old and is bound to find that special kind of love someday and he couldn't wait because once he finds that someone, he is never letting go. 

Barry gets up from the table and announces that he should be getting ready to head towards school. He gets his book bag and hugs his mom before she tries to attempt to smooth down his hair again and made his way toward the door until she gasped as she remembered something. "I need to go get my camera, I will be right quick, just stay right there."

"Mom, I should really get going."

"I get a picture every year of your first day of school, and I am not going to stop now." She says, shuffling through the kitchen drawers.

"I don't want to be late on my first day of school." Even though he knew he was going to late anyways.

"Bartholomew Henry Allen, you are not going anywhere until I get those pictures."

He grimaced at hearing his full name, and his dad walked past him with his bag in his hand and patted him on the shoulder, "Good luck, son. I love you"

"I love you too, but do you mean good luck with mom or school?" They both turn to look back at her still shuffling through drawers and his father smiles and says, "Both" before opening the door and leaving. 

"Ha I found you, okay, Barry come stand in front of the fireplace and let me get a few pictures and then you can leave."

Barry took the pictures and groaning whenever his mom kept trying to fix his shirt and brush down his hair and ran his way down the street and up the steps of Central City High. He rushed his way through the school halls and accidentally bumped into someone, "Sorry, sorry, my bad"  and kept going until he made it to homeroom 330. 

He was out of breath by the time he made it to the seat that Cisco had saved for him. He wiped off the sweat dripping from his forehead and pushed his lightly damped hair back and turned to talk to Cisco who was completely oblivious to the fact that he was there because he was talking to this group of girls seated behind us. Barry tapped him on the shoulder a few times to try to get his attention and Cisco finally turned around annoyed and said, "Dude I was so about to get one of their numbers"

Barry laughed, "No you weren't, anyways, thank you for saving me a seat."

"Anytime brother, I had a feeling that you were going to be late, some things just never change."

Barry punched him in the shoulder and said, "It was actually my moms fault this time, she wanted to take pictures of me on my first day of school."

Cisco grabbed Barry cheeks on his face and lightly pinched them, "Aww little mommas boy."

They both laughed after Barry shoved Cisco off of him and got into a deep conversation of what they did for the rest of the summer after they finished their internships at STAR LABS. They talked until someone opened the door and came in and Barry didn't look up at first until he saw Cisco staring at someone in the front of the class talking to the teacher. Barry asked Cisco what he was staring and when Cisco didn't answer him, he turned around and look for himself. Both Barry and Cisco sat there and stared at her just like the rest of the class. Barry knew that it was probably really rude to stare but he couldn't take his eyes off of her.  _She's gorgeous,_ he thought to himself and he could only see the side of her face but when she turned around to face the class, his breath caught in his throat and his heart started beating out of his chest. She's not just gorgeous, she's perfect. Her golden brown skin, her full plump lips, her brunette hair cascaded over her shoulders, her beautiful dark brown eyes scanning over every face in the room. 

His thoughts kept going back to her lips, they were so... kissable. Waiting to be kissed, waiting for him to kiss them. He shook the thoughts loose, " _Here I am in the middle of class, thinking about kissing a girl who I don't even know, let alone her name."_ Barry looked back up and they made eye contact, Barry looked back down and blushed furiously. She turned back to the teacher as she whispered something to her and she was making her way towards Barry.

Barry started to slightly panic in his mind, _Oh shit, what do I say? "Hi my name is Barry Allen and Im a super mega science nerd who thinks you're drop dead gorgeous and thought about kissing you senselessly." Yeah she definitely won't punch you in the throat._ He let out a breath and he didn't know he was holding as she made her way towards him and took the seat behind him. He sat there and fought with his thoughts about what to say to her first but Cisco had beat him to it and said to her, "Hello there, my name is Cisco Ramon, the ladys man around here and this is my good friend Barry Allen." and Cisco slapped Barry on his shoulder. Barry shot Cisco a glare before turning around and making a mental note to kill him later.

She laughed at Cisco's joke and reached out her hand and said, "Nice to meet you Cisco" and then turned to Barry and held out her hand and he took it after a second and shook it and she said, "and you too, Barry" and he didn't know why but his heart stuttered a little bit at the way she said his name. "My name is Iris West, I'm new here." She said with a smile.

 _Iris West,_ Barry thought, as he returned her smile.

They don't know how long they sat there staring in each others eyes and not realizing that they were still holding hands but Cisco looked between the pair and sat back in his seat and smiled to himself and said under his breath, "Ohh this should be good, I can't wait to tell Caitlin."


	2. Brave face on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iris' POV

Iris jolted up out of her sleep panting heavily, her clothes clinging to her body from the sweat.  _Just another bad dream,_ she sighed, looked over at her alarm clock and got up to take a shower. 

Feeling the hot water run down her body, she closed her eyes, rubbed her face and blew out a breath. Flashes from that night come across her mind and she tries to block them out but fails. 

_The sound of cars crashing and ricocheted into the quiet night of Star City. Iris opens her eyes slowly, but pain flooded through her body, she reaches up to touch her head and winced instantly. She looks at her surroundings and tries to make sense of what happened. She tries to move but she screams out loud and looks down to find her leg trapped underneath the seat. She tries to free her leg but she fails, she looks to try to find a way out of the car but sees a body lying across from her._

_Iris screams out, "MOM", she tries to reach out to her and make sure that she is okay._

_Iris eyes started to get heavy but she kept trying to figure out a way to get her and her mom out of the car, no matter how much pain she causing to herself. Dark spots kept clouding her visions and she reached up to touch her head again and this time there was blood on the tips of her fingers. She looked at her mom one last time, lying there lifeless and not responding to Iris' screaming and pleading for her to move, to show her that she was okay, that they would be okay._

_She started hearing the sirens rush toward them. Iris took a breath and she said, "Hold on mom, just hold for a few more seconds, please." She took a couple more deep breaths but her vision kept going in and out, she heard a faint voice calling her name but she passed out before she could figure out who it was._

Iris got out the shower and wrapped a towel around herself and quickly got ready for school. She looked herself in the mirror one more time, not quite satisfied with her outfit but she didn't want to be late for school. She grabbed her book bag and looked in the mirror one more time and took a deep breath and smiled,  _You can do this girl,_ she thought to her self as she made her way down the stairs.

Her dad, Joe West, was getting ready to leave to start his first day at his new job at CCPD but saw Iris come down the stairs and he stopped and looked at her. 

He smiled at her, "Ready for you first day, baby girl?" and stretched out his arms.

Iris returned the smile and stepped into the embrace and sighed, "As ready as I will ever be."

Joe kissed the top of her before letting her go and walked to get his bag. Iris made her way into the kitchen and looked for something to eat and called back to her dad, "What, no breakfast this morning?"

Joe turned around and laughed, "Do I look like a maid to you? You can make your own breakfast."

Iris grumbled something under her breath about how people are lazy nowadays and don't want to do anything. She picked up an apple and gave her dad another hug and said, "Go show them what Detective Joe West is capable of."

He laughed, "I love you baby girl."

"I love you too Dad", and she opens the door and makes her way to Central City High.

Every step closer to the school, she kept getting more and more nervous but a little excited at the new start. She makes her way up the steps of the school and finds the office. She smiles sweetly at the secretary and who didn't seem to notice that she was there. Iris cleared her throat and the lady still didn't look up. Iris frowned and said, "Excuse me" and the woman looks up irritated, "Welcome to Central City High School, how can I help you today?" the old lady said in a monotone voice.

Iris looked at the woman for a second and said, "Yeah, I am Iris W-"

The old lady cut her off and said, "Mhm"

She continued her sentence and tried to act like she didn't cut her off, "West, I'm new here and not sure where to go."

"Mhmm"

 _What the hell is her problem?,_ Iris went to speak again but someone else cut in, "Good morning, Ms. Smith, how are you?" The two of them went into a nice friendly conversation but she tuned them out and looked at the girl in front of her. She was slightly shorter than her with brunette hair, fair skin, and good sense of fashion, even if it was simple. She had on a low cut white v-neck shirt with a leather jacket to top it off with jeans on and cute ankle boots. 

While Iris was thinking about stealing her boots, the girl was snapping her fingers at her, trying to get her attention. Iris snap out of her daze and apologize and the girl smiled and said, "Thats fine, I just asked what your name is"

"Iris West"

The girl managed to get her schedule for her from the old bat at the front desk and showed her where her locker was and her first class. They made it to the class room and then girl turned to leave, but Iris called out to her.

"Wait" the girl turned around, "I just wanted to say thank you, you didn't have to face that demon in there."

The girl laughed, "She's like that with everyone, I just guess she has a soft spot for me."

Iris smiled and said, "I never got your name."

She held out her hand and smiled back, "Linda Park, welcome to Central City High." Iris took her hand and shook it and thought,  _This might not be too bad._

Iris opened the door to homeroom and tried not to squirm under everyones gaze as she made her way to the teacher.

"Hi, I'm Iris West, sorry I'm late."

The teacher smiled at her and said, "Thats okay Iris, I'm Mrs. Richardson, welcome." She looked up to scan the room and she did the same and looked at the faces in the class and her eyes fell on the guy in the front of the class. They made eye contact for a second before he broke away and looked down. Iris stared at him a little bit longer, just to take in his appearance. His hair was fluffy and looks as if he just ran his hand through it a couple of times, he had on a plaid red and navy blue shirt that really made his green-bluish eyes pop, with dark jeans and converse to top it off.  _He's handsome,_ she thought to her self and smiled a little before the teacher got her attention and told her to take the seat behind the guy with the pretty eyes.

He kept his head down as she walked past him to take her seat behind him. Before she could get settled, the guy sitting next to him turned to her and stretched out his hand introduced himself as "Cisco the lady's man around here". Apparently Cisco knew the guy beside him and said his name was Barry Allen. Barry looked at Cisco before turning around towards Iris, and looked at her with those adorable green eyes. She couldn't take her eyes away from his and she guessed her hand either because they were still shaking hands after she introduced her self to him.

Iris cleared her throat, and he looked down and blushed furiously and apologized quickly and took his hand away. For some reason, she missed having his hand in hers but shook the thought loose.  _I don't even know who this guy is, get it together girl._

Barry looked back up at Iris and asked, "Are you new here?"

"Yeah I am, just moved here from Star City", she smiles.

Barry looked interested and smiles back at her, "I have been there a couple of times, the city is beautiful. What brings you to Central City?"

Iris smiles falter a little bit and she goes to open her mouth to speak but Barry caught the slight frown and quickly said, "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that."

He rambled his apologies and Iris couldn't help but laugh at how red the tips of his ears got,  _Nobody can be this adorable._

Iris reached out and put her hand on his arm and said while smiling, "Barry, its okay, you don't have to apologize." He slowly broke out in a grin and Iris went to speak again but was caught off by the most annoying voice she has ever heard.

She looked up at the girl standing in front of Barry's desk and Barry grimaced before turning around but only Iris caught it.

"Hi Barry", the girl said in a nasally, high pitched voice.

"Hey Becky", he said in an irritated voice, but she didn't seem to catch it. Iris looked at her and had to admit she was pretty but that voice had to go. Becky has blonde hair and bright blue eyes with a short dress on and high heels.  _Who legit comes to school in high heels? Obviously this Becky girl._

Iris didn't appreciate the way this girl just walked up to us, interrupted our conversation and now trying to touch all over him. She glared at Becky and listened to her conversation with Barry.

Becky smiled sweetly at Barry and said, "How was your summer?"

"It was fine Becky, thank you for asking", he said back tightly. 

 _Who was she to him? Was she his_ _girlfriend? No, she couldn't be, Barry sounds like he can't stand her. Maybe she wanted to be more... but did he want that too? Why do I care?_ Iris shakes the thoughts loose and goes back to listening to the conversation.

"Well, are you coming to the back to the school party? I heard it's supposed to be like so much fun", Becky said.

"Go just to see teenagers drunk off their asses, and enjoy the smell of vomit and cigarette smoke?"

Becky's laugh is so much worse than her actual talking voice, she sounded like a cat giving birth. She slapped Barry on the arm and said, "You're so funny Bar, but you should really come, you never know what might happen." She winks at him and smiles before walking back to her seat but not before shooting Iris a glare.

After she left, Cisco started making noises like he was about to throw up and Barry and Iris laughed at him. Barry pushed Cisco lightly and Cisco turns to Iris and says, "Thats Becky Cooper, she has been trying to get with Barry since 8th grade."

Iris then turned to Barry and asks, "Why won't you ask her out?" Half-joking, the other half wondering why.

Barry looked down and mumbled, "She's not really my type" and then turned to look at Iris before turning back to Cisco who said, "Good, because I don't think I could put up with that voice of hers" Cisco tries his best to imitate her voice but fails miserably.

The 3 of them continue to talk for the remainder of class until the bell rings. They walk out together and Cisco walks ahead of Barry and Iris. They walk next to each other in a comfortable silence but then it gets a little awkward until Barry clears his throat and Iris looks up at him.

She looked up at him, waiting for him to talk and after a minute, she laughs, and Barry joins in with her.

"Why are you laughing?", he asks.

Iris comes to a stop to look at him. She always thought that she was a good height but standing in front of Barry made her feel like toddler. His hair was sticking up in some places and her hand itched to smooth it down for him but she fought the urge to do so, "You cleared your throat like you were going to say something but you didn't."

Barry looked at her and opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again. He moved to rub the back of his neck and nervously stumbled over his words, "I was wondering, well I wasn't really wondering... I was curious, I should say, if you were going.. If you wanted to go.."

Iris put her hand over her mouth to hide the smile forming on her face,  _Seriously no one can be this adorable,_ she thought to her self.

Barry took a deep breath and said, "I was just curious if you were actually thinking about going to the party this weekend.."

Iris looked up at him and stared into his eyes, "Why do you ask? Thought you didn't like the smell of vomit and cigarette smoke?"

He chuckled deeply and took a step closer to her. Iris was pretty sure that her heart was thumping so hard in her chest that he could hear it but he said, "I could make a few exceptions", he stood there looking down at her. She didn't realize how close they were until they were almost nose to nose.

Iris took a step back and said, "I'm not sure yet, but there is a chance that I might."

Barry smiled, "I think there is a chance that I might go too."

She laughed and said, "You should, you never know what might happen", she winked at him and flashed him a smile before walking off to her next class.

Barry couldn't do nothing but watch her walk away. He turned in the opposite direction and headed to his next class with the biggest grin on his face as if he just won the lottery.

 

 

 

 


	3. Party Animals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Underaged drinking in this chapter!
> 
>  
> 
> Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco are excited for the party on Friday night, but no one is more excited and nervous as Barry, because he hopes to see a golden brown skin and dark brown eyed beauty.

Barry got up from his seat as soon as the bell rang to signal it was time for lunch. He weaved his way through the sea of people heading toward the cafeteria and went to go put his books in his locker. Cisco and Caitlin were already there waiting for him but didn't seem to notice him when he walked up because they were in a deep conversation about which superhero could possibly beat Superman in battle.

Cisco looked at Caitlin as if she had two heads on her body when she said that Batman could beat him, "Woman, are you serious?" Caitlin raised her eyebrows at him and had a small smile on her face but Cisco shook his head and continued, "Superman could just pick up Batman like a rag doll and toss his ass across the country, thats not a battle. Batman turned to Batboy." Cisco snaps his fingers and Caitlin and Barry just laugh at him as they made their way to the cafeteria.

Caitlin kept listing off superheroes to Cisco and he kept giving her good explanations of why Superman would win every time while they stood in line to get their lunch. After they got their lunch, they found somewhere to sit and Caitlin turned to Cisco, "What about the Flash? I mean he is the fastest man alive and he can throw lightning."  Cisco opened his mouth to respond but then closed it. After a minute, he opened it again and said, "You know, I would pay to watch that fight."

They started eating their lunch in a comfortable silence until Cisco said, "So are we going to this party Friday or what?", Caitlin looked confused and asked, "What party?", Cisco filled her in on the details about the party but Barry was in his little world and thought back to what Iris said to him in the hallway. A smile formed on his lips and he looked around the cafeteria until he found what he was looking for, or rather who he was looking for.

Iris threw her head back and laughed at one of the girls jokes that she was sitting with. She smiled brightly as she talked enthusiastically to the small group of girls about something and Barry knew that he should stop looking at her but he couldn't his eyes away from her smile.  _That smile should be illegal,_ he said to himself. Her smile only got brighter when she caught him staring at her and she gave him a little wave. Barry grinned back at her and gave a little wave of his own back to her and they just sat there staring at each other until that gaze was broken when one of the girls at her table asked her a question.

Barry turned back to his friends who were looking at him with a knowing look, he blushed slightly and asked, "What?"

Both Cisco and Caitlin at the same time said, "Nothing."

Barry cleared his throat, and said, "Do we all agree on going to the party Friday?"

Caitlin nodded her head, and Cisco said, "Hell yeah."

~~~~~~~

The week flew by and it was finally Friday. Barry shot up out his bed and got ready for school and actually got there on time. Cisco walked in the classroom and was taken aback when Barry was already sitting in his seat looking at his phone. Cisco walked up to him and said, "You're here early?" It came out more as a question and Barry looked up from his phone and said, "Yeah, I am, excited for school I guess." Cisco gave him a funny look and opened his mouth to speak but then Iris walked in the classroom and made her way to her seat.

She shot Barry a smile before sitting down and said, "You're on time."

Cisco laughed and Barry rolled his eyes and said,"What? Is it a crime to be on time for once?"

Cisco shook his head and turned to Iris, "Are you going to the party tonight?"

Barry already knew the answer but needed the confirmation that she didn't change her mind about going. Iris nodded her head and then looked at Barry, "Are you guys going?"

Barry opened his mouth but Cisco beat him to it and said, "Oh hell yeah, we bout to get drunkkkkk" and put up his hand for a high five but Barry just shook his head and laughed. 

~~~~~~~

Clothes were scattered all over the floor and Barry let out a frustrated groan and went to sit on his bed.  _How come out of all of these clothes, I have nothing to wear._ He sighed to himself,  _Now I sound like a girl who is nervous about her first date._ His mother knocked on his door and Barry mumbled, "Come in." Nora looked at all the clothes on the floor and looked up at Barry, "What happened here?"

"I can't find anything to wear." Nora chuckled and went to sit next to Barry on his bed.

"Are you nervous about the party?" She asked as she smoothed down his hair. Barry looked up at his mother and blushed a little.

"No"

Nora caught how his cheeks got a little red and smirked, "So is there a girl you're hoping to see at this party?" When Barry didn't answer after a minute, she knew she got her answer but then Barry chose to deny it.

Barry stuttered over his words and rubbed the back of his neck as his cheeks only got redder, "No, no.. there isn- there isn't a girl." Nora shot him a look and looked down at his bedroom floor and pickup a clean white dress shirt and handed it to Barry.

"Here wear this."

Barry looked at the shirt for a second and took it from his mothers hand, "Thanks mom."

Nora kissed the top of his head, stood up, and went to his door but before she left, she turned around to look back at Barry, "Barry?"

He looked up at his mom as he finished off the last few buttons on his shirt, "Yeah?"

"No drinking tonight", she gave him a motherly look before leaving him to finish getting dressed.

Barry finished getting dressed and made his way towards Cisco house. Cisco was coming out the door when Barry was coming up the steps to his house. They make their way to the party and Cisco is getting excited the closer we get and Barry looks as if he is about to throw up.

"Dude I am so pumped for this party. Just think of all the hot girls that are going to be here", Cisco said as they turn the corner and head towards Eddie Thawne's house. Eddie Thawne is the most popular guy in school. He's the captain of the football team, basketball team, hell even the wrestling team. Eddie had a good heart and was a nice guy but when it came to women, he was totally oblivious.

They make their way up the steps of the house and opened the door. The music was loud, there were people making out on the couch, playing beer pong.  _Why do I even come to these type of things?,_ he thought to himself. They looked around the party, looking for Caitlin and saw her talking to one of the seniors on the football team, Ronnie Raymond. Cisco's whole mood changed in an instant when he saw the two of them laughing and joking around. Cisco won't admit it to himself or any body else but he had a soft spot for Caitlin and would do absolutely anything for her.

Barry patted his friend on the shoulder and Cisco grumbled, "I need a drink."

They make their way towards the bar area and Cisco gets a cup full of beer and sips on it while Barry just settles on Sprite for now.

Barry looked around the room looking for Iris but Becky Cooper kept trying to get his attention and Barry was obviously trying to ignore her. She started to make her way towards and Barry turned to Cisco but he was already gone off and found a girl to talk to. Barry groaned inwardly, and turned around to get away from Becky. He turned around to see if she was still coming towards him and accidentally bumped into someone.

Barry instantly apologized, "I am sorry, I am so sorry, my bad." The person laughed and Barry looked up because he knew that laugh from anywhere. Barry grinned at her.

Iris looked up at Barry, "Thats okay Barry, as long as you didn't spill your drink on me then it would have been a different story", Barry laughed and Iris looked down at his outfit and smiled mostly to herself and said, "You look good."

Barry looked down at his outfit to keep her from seeing the blood rush to his face, "Thanks", he muttered.

Iris tucked a hair behind her ear and Barry took the time to take in her appearance. His breath caught in his throat when he looked down at her. She had on a short sleeved, slim fitting red dress, that stopped slightly above her knees and black boots.  _She looks amazing,_ he thought to himself. Before he could catch himself he said to her, "You look amazing."

She blushed at his response but he just thought it was only his imagination. She grabbed his arm and said, "Come on, lets get a drink."

As she was pulling him, he couldn't help but stare at her ass a little and groaned as he tried to push his dirty thoughts away.  _Come on now Barry, none of that, she is your friend and you shouldn't be having these thoughts about your friend._

Iris handed him a drink and knocked her cup slightly against his and said, "Cheers."

"Cheers." Barry takes a sip from his cup and tried to keep his eyes off of Iris' curved figure and just stood next to her, enjoying her company. After a moment, Barry got the courage to say something to her but didn't know what to say.

He turned toward her and said, "So..."

"So.." She locked eyes with him over the rim of her red solo cup.

He gulped, "You remembered when we were talking in the hallway and I asked you if you were going to the party and you said that you might and then I said that I might come too and then you said you should because you never know what might happen?" He rambled and she nodded and then he continued, "Well we are both here, at the party, standing in front of each other and I was just wondering what might happen..", he finished.

Iris looked at him, smiled, and opened her mouth to say something back to him but someone came in between Barry and Iris and hugged him.

"OMG Barry you came", Becky said with a slight slur in her voice. Barry pulled her off of him and took a step back.

"Yeah I did", Barry turned to Iris who was kind of off to the side and he pulled her over closer to him and said, "You remember Iris West, don't you?"

Becky smiled uneasily and said through gritted teeth, "How could I forget?", she turned back to Barry who was still holding Iris close to him, "A group of us are about to play 7 minutes in Heaven, you both should totally come play."

Barry began to shake his head but Iris grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the group of people who were about to start, "Sure, lets play."

Iris led her and Barry to a couple of seats that were open on the couch and sat down. When she sat down, she crossed her legs and Barry looked down and saw her dress rise up a little bit and caught a glimpse of her thigh. Barry breathed in slightly and thought to himself,  _She's your friend Barry, she is your_ _friend._ He shook the thoughts loose as they started to explain the rules of the game but Barry wasn't paying attention because he was too distracted by the girl sitting close next to him. 

Laurel caught his attention when she said, "Alright guys listen up, we are going to place the bottle in the middle and spin it twice and the two people it lands on will go in the closet for 7 minutes and do whatever they want", as she said the last part, she wiggled her eyebrows in a playful manner. Laurel went to spin the bottle and Barry closed his eyes and thought to himself,  _Please don't land on me, please do not land on me, please..._

Laurel yelled out, "Barry Allen",  _Fuck._

Laurel went to spin the bottle again and Barry looked around the room, and saw Becky practically staring at the bottle at an attempt to make it land on her. Barry heart quickens as the bottle starts to slow down and then the bottle stops. Barry stares at it for a while until Laurel breaks his train of thought and says, "Barry Allen and.... the new girl." Before either of them could say something, they were pushed into the closet and heard the door lock behind them. They looked everywhere but each other and then after a minute Iris spoke up, "Lets play a game."

Barry gave her a weird look, "Besides the game that we are playing right now?"

She punched him in the arm lightly and said, "Yes you goofball." When she saw that he was waiting for her to say which game she wanted to play, she continued, "Lets play 20 questions."

Barry nodded her head, "Do you want to go first?"

She took a deep breath and said, "Yeah, I will go first." She looked as if she didn't want to ask her question, but went ahead and asked, "I know you said that Becky wasn't your type but has anything happened between the two of you?"

Barry furrowed his eyebrows at the question and answered, "No, never, and never thought about doing anything with her."

She nodded her head and then Barry looked up at her and asked his question, "Why do you ask?"

Iris knew the question was coming but was still caught a bit off guard, "Umm, I was just wondering. She always seems to be jealous when she sees you talking to me at school."

"Should she be?", Barry got a little confident and took a step closer to her. 

She noticed him take a step closer but she didn't seem to mind and smiled up at him, "Nice try, its my turn to ask the question."

Iris tapped her finger on her chin as she thought of another question with a smile playing on her lips and Barry stood there looking at her, noticing the little features about her. Noticing that she didn't really need much makeup because she was naturally beautiful, she had the most amazing smile Barry has ever seen in his life, her hands were small but they fit his perfectly when they first shook hands on the first day of school.

"What is your type?", Iris said, breaking Barry's train of thought.

"My type?", he asked like he didn't hear the question and she nodded. Barry didn't have to think about what his type was because she was standing in front of him but he couldn't tell her that so he just opened his mouth and the words just started flowing out.

He took another step toward her and said, "Well my type is a girl who cares for others before caring for themselves, a girl who is strong, beautiful and confident, someone who isn't afraid to be themselves around me, a girl that takes my breath away every time she smiles at me or when I tell one of my many corny jokes and she laughs at it.." he trailed off because at that moment they were nose to nose, looking deeply into each others eyes.

Iris blew out a shaky breath, "Barry..."

"Hmm", he said as he got closer to her. Iris broke eye contact with him only to look down at his lips and she bit her lip but that only made Barry want to kiss her more. Their lips were inches from each other and Barry closed his eyes right when Iris did and he was about to seal the gap in between them until they heard a loud knocking on the door and they sprang apart from each other as the door opened.

Laurel popped her head in and said, "Times up kiddos, come on out."

Iris went out the door first and after a moment or two, Barry went out too.  _Holy shit, what just happened?_ He moved though the crowd of people to find Iris and talk to her about their "moment" but was stopped by a very goofy, very drunk Cisco. 

"Where havvvvveee you been mannn?", he slurred and Barry tried not to throw up at the smell of liquor on his breath and pushed all the thoughts of Iris out of his head and tried to take care of his friend.

"Damn dude, how many cups have you had?", Barry asked as he tried to keep Cisco from falling over. Cisco turned to him and held up 3 fingers and said, "I have onlyyyyy had 7 cupssss dude, calm downnnn."

Barry laughed at his friend, who kept mumbling something under his breath about how he is the best dragon slayer ever and no one wants to feel the wrath of his sword. Barry found Caitlin who was talking to a group of girls and gestured toward Cisco. Caitlin rushed over to them and Cisco threw his arms around Caitlin, "Caityyyyyy, hiii", he breathed and Caitlin put her hand over her face and gave a look of disgust.

Barry looked at Caitlin and said, "Could you watch him for a second, I need to go get my jacket and then I am going to drop him off at home." Barry rushed off before Caitlin could protest and went to go fetch his coat.

Barry shrugged his coat on and turned to leave to get Cisco but not before he caught a glimpse of a red dress. He turned to look at Iris talking to... Eddie Thawne. She laughed loudly at something he said and hit him on the shoulder and looked up and locked eyes with Barry. She noticed that he had his coat on and excused herself to Eddie and made her way toward Barry who was still looking at Eddie.

"Hey, are you about to leave? The party is just getting started." She said as she came up to him.

Barry turned to look at her and shrugged, "Yeah, uhh, Cisco isn't feeling good so I am going to make sure that he gets home safely."

"Let me get my coat and I will come with you guys." Iris turned to go look for her coat but Barry caught her arm and she turned back around.

"You don't have to do that, you stay here and... mingle." He said, while looking toward where Eddie was and turned back to her but she already knew what he was trying to say.

Iris reached out for Barry's hand, "Barry I-", she couldn't finish her sentence because Barry gently took his hand out of hers and muttered, "I got to go."

Iris looked at Barry hurt, "Barry wait", but he threw her a small smile and said in a strained tone, "See you later, Iris." He made his way back toward Cisco who threw his arm over Barry's shoulder and they walked out the party together, and made their way home.

 


	4. He's An Idiot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry hasn't talked to Iris since Friday night at the party, he would always give her an excuse about being busy or go in another direction when he would see her in the hallways. Three weeks later and Barry hasn't had a full conversation with Iris and she hates and fed up with his excuses, so she's going to get the answers she needs.

_He's an idiot, Barry Allen is a complete idiot._ Iris thought to her self as she walked through the hallways of Central City High. Barry hasn't talked to her in three weeks, since the party on Friday night to be exact. He would mutter a good morning towards her in homeroom, give her a smile but the smile never reached his eyes, and when she would try to have a conversation with him, he would only respond with short answers. Iris would try to corner him in the hallway and talk to him but he would give her a dumbass excuse and would turn and walk away, but today, Iris was going to get him to talk to her one way or another. 

Iris was walking through the hallway and she saw that Barry had turned the corner and started to walk up to him. Barry saw her and made to turn around and go the other way but Iris grabbed him by the arm, dragged him into an empty room, and closed the door behind them when they got in. Barry made a move to go out the door but Iris stood in the doorway, locked the door, and turned to face him and shook her head.

"No, you don't get to leave until I get some answers, Barry", she said and crossed her arms over her chest. Barry saw the determined look on her face and sighed in defeat, "Fine."

"Good, now do you want to tell me why the hell you've been short with me for these past few weeks", Iris tried to sound angry but there was a little hurt in her voice and she hoped Barry couldn't tell. She thought that her and Barry were really hitting it off and were really good friends until Friday night when they almost kissed. Iris could still feel his breath on her lips but had to shake loose of those thoughts because there was no excuse for the way Barry was treating her.

After five minutes, Barry didn't answer and Iris was starting to get nervous of what his answer was going to be.  _Maybe it was about Friday night, we did almost kiss and maybe thats why he hasn't been talking to me because he doesn't want anything to do with me after what could have happened._ She rambled in her head and stopped the debate in her head when she saw Barry open his mouth. "I've... I've just been busy these last few weeks.", he finally says.

"Too busy to talk to me or hang out with me for three weeks?", she snapped. Barry looked down and started rubbing the back of his neck.

Iris looked at him and she was more hurt than angry now. She couldn't stop the words coming out of her mouth but she had to ask, "Did.. Did I do something to make you mad at me, Barry?", she asked in a small voice.

Barry's head shot up and he locked eyes with her for the first time in a while. He timidly walked toward her and put his hands on her arms and said, "Of course not, I promise, I just.." he trailed off and looked everywhere but her and then Iris grabbed his face in her hands and pleaded, "Barry, please talk to me." Barry stood there holding her and didn't say anything. Iris opened her mouth to speak again but then was caught off guard by the feeling of Barry's lips on top of hers.

Iris slowly started kissing him back and Barry moved his hands from her arms and wrapped them around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Their mouths moved in a rhythmic motion against each other. Barry licked Iris' lower lip and she opened her mouth and their tongues collided. Iris squealed when Barry picked her up and pressed her up against the wall as Iris wrapped her legs around his waist. They broke apart, catching their breath, and Barry grinned at Iris, who returned his wide smile, and leaned in and she met him half way.

Iris didn't know what she was doing. She had only been in Central City for three weeks and she was already pressed up against a wall and making out with a guy. This wasn't just a guy, this was Barry she was kissing, who had the biggest heart, the goofiest grin, and the beautiful eyes. He was what she wanted, what she would always want.

Barry interrupted her train of thought by pressing himself in between her thighs and she let out a little moan against his mouth and grinned. Iris tugged on his bottom lip and Barry groaned deeply, gripped her waist tighter, and pressed himself up against her again. He broke their kiss to start kissing on her neck and Iris moved her hands from his shoulders to his hair and she arched her back into him and he nibbled on her earlobe. Iris moved her hands from his hair, to move down his chest and she reached to the front of his pants but Barry broke away from her, out of breath, and said, "Wait."

Iris looked at him breathless and asked, "What?" His cheeks were flushed from all the kissing or him being embarrassed about what he was going to say next. "I don't uhhh, I don't have a... condom...", he said the last part quietly and Iris had to cover her mouth to keep laughing from how adorable he was being and patted him on the shoulder to signal to him to put her down. 

Iris looked back at him after he set her down, smiled, and said, "Good thing you're trying to be safe but if you did have a condom, I don't think I would want our first time being together to be in a classroom, in the middle of a school day." Barry nodded his head and blushed and Iris, too, tried to keep herself from blushing as she said that sentence.

"You're right, of course not." He grinned at her and his smile kind of faltered a bit and he took a small step back from her. Iris noticed and was about to ask what was wrong but Barry threw her off by his question.

"What about Eddie?", he asked and she looked at him confused,  _Eddie? What did he have to do with this?_ "Eddie?" She asked and Barry nodded and said, "You two looked pretty friendly at the party on Friday."

Iris smiled up at him and poked him in his side, "Were you jealous Bartholomew?", and then she realized something and smacked him on the arm and Barry grabbed his arm. "Ow what the hell?", he said, looking down at Iris.

Iris narrowed her eyes at him and put her hands on her hips, "I know damn well that you weren't ignoring me these last few weeks because you thought I was getting "friendly" with Eddie.", Barry started rubbing the back of his neck and she shook her head at him, "You're an idiot."

Barry tried to defend himself, "Hey, thats what it seemed like, nobody's joke is that funny. You were laughing so loud, I'm pretty sure the neighbors heard you over the loud music." Iris gasped and went to hit him again but Barry grabbed her hand and brought her closer to him. "Let me make it up to you", he said while looking her deep in the eyes. Iris acted as if she had to think about it and Barry pouted, "Pretty please, after school?" 

Iris grinned at him and he smiled back and said, "You're lucky you're cute, Allen", she got up on her tip toes and gave Barry a quick peck on the cheek, "Its a date." She grabbed her bag and headed to the class she was already 20 minutes late for. She managed to sneak into her math class without her teacher noticing and made her way towards her seat next to Linda.

"Where have you been?", she whispered. Iris tried not to blush as she tried to push the thoughts of Barry being pressed up against her. "Uhh, I was just talking to a friend", Iris said but Linda caught her cheeks turn red a little and gave her a nudge and threw a look. 

"Was this 20 minute "talk" with a tall, green eyed boy whose name rhymes with Garry Hallen?", Linda said.

Iris stuck her tongue out at her friend and Linda laughed at Iris and turned back toward the teacher. Iris knew she didn't have to explain her self to Linda because she already knew the answer.

The final bell rang and Iris made her way to her locker and wasn't surprised when she saw Barry there waiting for her. He waited patiently for her to put her books in her locker. Iris closed her locker and turned toward Barry and they headed out the school together. They walked side by side in a comfortable silence and their hands kept brushing against each other until Iris took his hand in hers and intertwined their fingers. Barry down at their hands and looked up at her and smiled that million dollar smile. Barry rubbed his thumb over the back of her knuckles until they came to a stop at their destination.

"CC Jitters?", she asked and Barry turned toward her and said, "This is probably the best coffee in Central City and not only do they have the best coffee, they have the best brownies too."

"I mean if its the best then its only right if we get both." Barry laughed and opened the door for her and told her to go find them seats while he paid for their treats. Iris found them a couple of seats and waited for Barry. She thought about sending a quick text to her dad and when she was about to, Barry came up with their coffees in a try in one hand and their brownie in the other. 

Barry handed her drink to her, "For you m'lady." She took it from his hands and took a sip from the cup and felt the hot coffee run down her throat, "Thank you sir", she said with a grin. Barry sent her a wink over the rim of his cup as he took a sip from his own coffee. He sat his cup down and looked at Iris who had reached for a fork to take a bite out of the brownie.

"I'm really sorry for the way that I've been acting towards you for these past few weeks." Barry said and Iris nodded as she chewed and swallowed.

"All is forgiven, this brownie is absolutely amazing." Barry laughed at Iris and she took the fork and got a piece of the brownie and motioned to Barry to open his mouth so she could feed it to him. Barry opened his mouth but before he could take take the bite, Iris brought it back to her mouth and ate it instead. Barry looked at her, shocked and said, "Hey, that was mean."

Iris shrugged but she had a little brownie piece on the corner of her mouth. Barry gestured to it but Iris kept missing and Barry said, "Here, let me." Barry reached over with his thumb and wiped it over the corner of her mouth to get the brownie and surprised Iris by licking it off of his thumb, "Yeah you're right, that brownie is amazing", he said in a deep voice.

Iris pushed him away blushing and Barry just grinned and the first time in three weeks, his smile finally reached his eyes. They sat in Jitters for almost three hours and talked to each other about everything and Iris couldn't stop grinning the entire time they were talking. Barry told her about the internship over the summer and about his parents and when Barry asked her about her parents, she told him that she was living with her dad. When she didn't go any further, Barry realized that she didn't want to talk about what happened to her mom, he apologized and moved to a different subject. Iris appreciated him not pushing her to tell him and one day she would tell him, but right now, she wasn't ready.

They left Jitters and Barry took Iris on a little tour of the city. Barry was the cutest tour guide because his eyes lit up when they came close to this science museum and started telling her about when it was first built and the story behind the museum but Iris was just mesmerized by how passionate he is about this type of stuff.

Barry turned toward her, "I'm not totally freaking you out by how much of a geek I'm being right now, am I?"

Iris laughed and linked her arms with his and said, "Absolutely not, I find your geeking admirable." She said while smiling up at him and he smiled and grabbed her hand and dragged her along, "Come on." Barry showed her a few more of his favorite spots and she looked toward the fairgrounds and saw a few rides already there. 

"When does the fair come for Central City?", she asked. Iris always loved the fair when she was growing up. Her dad would take off work and would come pick her mom and her mom up from the house and they would spend the entire day riding rides and stuffing their faces with funnel cake. Iris hadn't been to the fair since she was about 12, the same time around her mom... "I think it comes next week actually, do you like the fair?", Barry asked.

Iris had her back towards Barry and said, "Yeah I used to love it when I was younger. My dad would always try to convince me to get on the big rides with him but all me and mom wanted to do was stuff our faces with fair food." Barry noticed that this was the first thing that she has said about her mom.

"What was she like?" Iris turned around to him and looked at him, "Your mom, what was she like?", he asked while taking her hands in his.

She looked down at their hands and took a deep breath. "She was.. she was the light that led you out the darkness. She was always the one that made sure that you were okay even when she wasn't. Despite whatever situation she was in, she looked at the positive. She had her moments where she would yell and fuss but what mother doesn't. She was.. she was my best friend, Barry." She looked up at him and smiled, "But my dad, he's the strong one, he managed to keep a roof over our heads when times got rough, and made sure that I was okay everyday..." She trailed off and Barry wrapped his arms around her and held her.

 _You're okay. Don't cry, Everything is okay. Breathe in and out.. In and out._ Iris thought in her head as she snuggled close to Barry. Barry rubbed her back in a soothing motion and held for a while longer before speaking. "You're mom sounds amazing, Iris. I see where you got most of traits from, but I'm not dissing your dad in anyway though, I'm sure he's a great man", Iris chuckled against his chest and he smiled before continued, "What I'm trying to say is that, your mom would be unbelievably proud of the woman that you're becoming. How far you and your dad have come to have a new beginning at things, and you said that she was the light that led people out of the darkness? Iris, she passed that on to you because thats who you are to everyone who has ever met you, and to me."

By the time he finished, Iris was shaking against his chest and Barry got worried and looked down, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry, I just thought I could make you feel better... Wait, are you laughing?' 

Iris was laughing but tears were rolling down her face and she grabbed Barry's face and pulled him down to her level to kiss him. This kiss was meaningful, sweet, and soft. This kiss expressed the feelings they had towards each other that couldn't be put into words. They pulled apart and Iris looked at Barry and smiled, "How could you know that? We've only known each other for three weeks."

Barry grinned at her and shrugged his shoulders, "I guess when you know, you know."

She chuckled and kissed him again and stared into his eyes, "Where'd you come from Barry Allen?"

"I've always been here Iris", he said while grinning, "Come on, I will walk you home." Barry grabbed her hand and they walked to where Iris lived.

They walked down the street and up the steps to her house and stopped at the front of her house. Iris turned to him and smiled up at him, "Thank you for tonight, it was really special to me."

Barry grinned, "I'm glad that I could make memorable for you", he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, "Good night, Iris."

"Good night, Barry." Iris turned to open the door but she turned back around and called out to Barry. "Hey, uhh, I was thinking, maybe next week we could go to the fair."

Barry looked at her, "Are you sure?" She hesitated but then nodded her head, "Yes, I'm sure."

Barry grinned at her and said, "Then its a date, West." and turned back around and headed toward his house. Iris smiled and opened the front door to her house and closed it quietly. She made her way to the staircase with the goofiest grin on her face and she saw the light in the living room turn on. "Where in the hell have you been?"

 


End file.
